Was Pollard Singled Out Because He Is Jewish?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

December 31, 1992

We partly agree with a Dec. 11 letter.

Yes, Jonathan Pollard was guilty of giving U.S. secrets to Israel, he and deserves to be punished. What is at issue is not guilt but the severity of the sentence. Why should Pollard be sentenced to life imprisonment for providing information to a friendly nation while the longtime spy John Walker was given a relatively light sentence for organizing a ring that for years passed vital information to the former Soviet Union?

This suggests that the judge who sentenced Pollard had an agenda that went beyond the matter of unbiased punishment for an illegal act. It is the sentence that cries out for appeal, and all people who are concerned with justice are justified in questioning whether Pollard was singled out for special severe punishment because he was a Jew providing information to Israel.